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BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) Tuesday unveiled new server that will allow its smart phone users to wirelessly access their work or corporate email 'without compromising security.' A RIM statement here said the free BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express software will meet many demands of two segments of its market. First, the software will offer economical advantages to small and mid-sized businesses seeking enterprise-grade security and manageability of (its higher end) BlackBerry Enterprise Server without requiring all of its advanced features. Second, the free software will enable IT departments to connect employees' personal BlackBerry smart phones to their work email and allow many other functions. 'BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express works with Microsoft Exchange 2010, 2007 and 2003 and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 and 2003 to provide users with secure, push-based, wireless access to email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks, as well as other business applications and enterprise systems behind the firewall. Importantly, the new server software utilizes the same robust security architecture found in BlackBerry Enterprise Server,'' the RIM statement said. 'Today we are announcing an exciting new offering that further expands the market opportunity for the BlackBerry platform,'' said RIM c-CEO Mike Lazaridis in the statement. 'In a marketplace where smart phones are becoming ubiquitous, BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express significantly raises the bar by providing a cost-effective solution that allows companies of all sizes to support enterprise-grade mobile connectivity for all employees without compromising security or manageability,'' the RIM co-CEO said. Once the new server connects their smart phones to Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Windows Small Business Server, BlackBerry users can wirelessly synchronize their email, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks. Further, they can access files on the company network, manage email folders and search email on the mail server remotely, and set an out-of-office reply. BlackBerry users can now also edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files using Documents To Go. They will also be able to use mobile applications to access business systems behind the firewall. source : yahoo
BlackBerry tablet will be a winner: Market analysts
With its monopoly in the business handset market under onslaught from Google’s Android devices and Apple’s iPhone, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) is now shifted its focus entirely to its tablet Playbook. In the projected 55-million tablet market this year with iPad in the clear lead, RIM is trying “everything right first time” before it launches the tablet in March, according to market analysts. Accordingly, at the just concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the top Canadian technology company went out its way to show how PlayBook stacks against the pack of tablets – many yet to be unveiled. Through hands-on demonstrations, RIM took pot shots at rivals by showing how PlayBook will be unbeatable in terms of the multitasking capabilities and versatility of its Web browser vis-a-vis Apple and Android tablets. The demonstrations tried to highlight how PlayBook browser is built on open Web standards and thus supports Flash which Apple’s iPad does not, and how PlayBook is capable of simultaneously running Flash browsing, desktop applications, 1080p video games, mobile desktop, 3D games and apps. While almost all tablets from major players run Android operating system – barring Apple’s iPad which runs on Apple’s own operating system, BlackBerry maker’s PlayBook uses a new powerful QNX operating system which RIM specifically bought only for its tablet. Technology analysts say these features give unique advantages to PlayBook against the rival tablets. To target its BlackBerry-totting business and corporate subscribers, RIM has also integrated PlayBook with its smart phone through BlackBerry Bridge. At 7-inch compared to the iPad which measures 11 inches, PlayBook will a lot more easy carry around on business trips. RIM has also not ruled out with bigger versions later on. While the PlayBook Wi-Fi version hits the market in March, the 3G/4G wireless version will come in the summer. With RIM’s future so much hinging on its tablet, Mike Abramsky of Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets in Toronto says multi-tasking, power and apps will definitely make PlayBook a winner in the fast crowding tablet market. “Some aspects of PlayBook ( such as apps) are being polished; however, RIM appears determined to get PlayBook right out of the gate, including competitive battery life (via power management from its QNX-based OS,” he was quoted as saying in the local media. With iPad selling more than seven million units since April, RIM has priced Playbook at $500 to cut into Apple sales.
BlackBerry targets Asian market
The launch in India of a new BlackBerry by Research In Motion Ltd is not just a nod to its lower-end users who love it less for its security, push email and seamless roaming than for its simplicity and its Messaging. It's a strategy the Canadian company hopes will help fill both a hole in its balance sheet and a half-year wait for its next big thing - the BlackBerry 10 platform. But will it work? The handset itself won't impress devotees: its main selling point is a dedicated side button that lets users chat over its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and a built-in FM radio, which lower-end Nokia phones have had for a decade. It works only on the slower 2G networks, and the camera isn't that great. But, RIM says, that's the point. RIM calls it a parallel approach: building the high-end next generation platform and devices, while coming up with cheaper phones that can prod some of the vast majority of its users to trade up. "We're really trying to build on and help those people who are moving from feature phone to smartphone. We believe we can be successful in that," Patrick Spence, RIM's global sales chief, said in a telephone interview. It's a smart move, some analysts believe, given RIM's position. Adam Leach, principal analyst at research company Ovum, said there is a misperception that RIM's bruising experience in North America will be repeated elsewhere. RIM's strength, he said, is being able to offer lower-end users a better experience on a slow connection than the equivalent Android handset. RIM launched its new handset, the Curve 9220, in India on Wednesday, with other markets to follow. A RIM spokesman said the company would launch in Indonesia, one of its most lucrative markets, in the coming weeks. "Their success in Indonesia shows they have other attributes and capabilities in the BlackBerryplatform globally that appeal to different markets rather than just the high-end, mature markets (like North America and Western Europe)," said Ovum's Leach. RIM doesn't break down its sales by region, but has reported that sales outside the U.S., Britain and Canada accounted for 68 percent of total revenue in its fourth quarter, up from 61 percent in the previous three months. Those markets include India, South Africa, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, which RIM says are all targets for this year's sales blitz. But understanding why a market like Indonesia works - and then applying those lessons elsewhere - is not straightforward. Slamet Riyadi, a 30-year-old office boy in Jakarta with a wife and two young children, shifted to BlackBerry from Nokia two years ago. He owns a Gemini 8520 which he bought new for about $200 - about two months' salary. He keeps his old Nokia to communicate with his family by voice and SMS, but loves his BlackBerry for staying in touch with friends and colleagues. He dreams of owning an Onyx 2, which would cost upwards of $350, but the reality is that he must soon sell his BlackBerry to pay for his daughter's schooling. Therein lies the rub for RIM. SUCCESS STORY? On the surface, Indonesia looks like an extraordinary success story in a gloomy narrative of failures elsewhere. While RIM slashed more than $750 million from the value of its inventory in each of its last two quarters, BlackBerry sales to Indonesia have boomed, with industry experts saying BlackBerrys account for around half of smartphone sales. Joy Wahjudi, director of marketing of operator XL Axiata, said there could be as many as 7 million BlackBerry users in Indonesia, the world's fourth-most-populous country. According to Harry Sasongko, CEO of cellular operator Indosat, Indonesia is RIM's largest market outside the United States and Britain. And, with smartphones accounting for less than 25 percent of phone users, it's not hard to see why RIM believes in Indonesia. When RIM offered half-price handsets at a Jakarta mall in November, 5,000 people surged through barriers, knocking several unconscious and prompting a police investigation. Still, the reality is more nuanced. Interest in smartphones is growing - nearly 10 times as many smartphones were sold in Indonesia last year compared to 2009, according to IDC. And in a country starved of land-lines and fixed-line computer connections, the phone has long been a key communications tool. RIM's success in Indonesia is down to a number of things, not all of them replicable outside Indonesia. Indonesian operators started early, among the first in the world to adopt RIM's experimental stripped-down pricing plans which offered basic services at a fraction of the usual enterprise prices. Now plans start at as low as $5 per month. This nurtured a vast ecosystem before RIM had even set up office in Indonesia in 2010. Take for example Hendrik, a 20-year-old who has worked as a phone repair man for the past three years, mostly fixing BlackBerrys. From a small stall in a down-market mall in Jakarta, Hendrik installs apps, upgrades software or replaces parts. One recent customer had dropped his device in the toilet. Despite burying the device in a pile of rice to try and dry it out, it still wouldn't work. Hendrik replaced the power supply and some chips from another machine. Total cost: $50. As demand has risen, so have opportunities for smuggling in handsets from countries where they are subsidized - pushing down prices. Retailer Devandi Nugroho, for example, offers two versions of the same device: an official one for 1.8 million rupiah ($200) and another for 200,000 rupiah less. Second-hand BlackBerrys can be found for as little as $75. All this has fuelled a perception that RIM has done little to make Indonesia a success and so doesn't understand how best to leverage it. "Part of RIM's issue is that they have had successes in areas they haven't exactly planned," said Ovum's Leach. WHAT PRICE LOYALTY? RIM acknowledges it could have done things differently in Indonesia. "Every company has to figure out how to deal with globalization and that's what we've really been trying to do," said Spence. Despite a raft of local initiatives, there's no guarantee BlackBerry users will remain loyal. There is already a feeling that Indonesians are beginning to tire of the device. While smartphones have grown as a share of the overall phone market in the past year, RIM's share has slipped while Samsung Electronics' has tripled, industry data show. Indonesians with long memories worry they've seen it before. Indonesia was the world capital of the bulky Nokia Communicator until it suddenly fell from grace. Prasetyo Andy Wicaksono, community leader for Indonesia's largest BlackBerry developer group, said doubts over RIM's future were denting interest among developers. "If RIM isn't careful, they can lose their loyal customers here. This phenomenon must be understood by RIM to prevent the same thing as happened to previous gadgets." More importantly, are poorer Indonesians going to bite? RIM believes it can persuade some of those millions of users of the more basic feature phones to upgrade. But Slamet, the office boy, illustrates how thin the line is between those who can afford one and those who can't afford to keep one. "The biggest challenge for RIM is price," said Sarwoto Atmosutarno, CEO of one of the largest cellular operators, Telkomsel. "Indonesia, like India, is a volume game industry." RIM said the Curve would sell in India for 10,990 rupees ($210), and about the same in Indonesia. Also, the key attraction of the BlackBerry for many - its Messenger function - is less of the unassailable citadel it once was. The growing popularity of messaging services such as WhatsApp that use a cellphone's data connection offer a cheap alternative to SMS - as well as a way to build BBM-like groups without having to own a BlackBerry. WhatsApp has recently released versions of its software that work on even the lower-end Nokia phones running the Symbian operating system - which still account for up to two-thirds of Indonesian cellphone users, according to StatCounter, a traffic monitoring service. Graham Hills, Indonesian general manager for travel start-up Wego, said that when he arrived in Jakarta last year everyone would ask for his BBM PIN number. "Now people ask whether you have WhatsApp on your phone," he said. Nor are all Indonesian operators big RIM fans. While nearly all offer BlackBerry packages, some do so only because it is popular - not because it is a great money spinner for them. One industry insider, who declined to be named, said at least one operator was not paying for any promotion because BlackBerrys weren't a profitable line and it didn't believe the device would remain popular. "The numbers are good, but I doubt it will continue," he said. "It's a fashion thing and it's going to die." RIM says it is confident it can overcome all these issues, both in Indonesia and beyond. "The reality is that only 15 percent of people have a smartphone," said RIM's Spence. "It's still quite early.
BlackBerry launches major ad campaign to reassure its dwindling customers
BlackBerry is publishing an open letter in major publications around the world in a bid to reassure customers that they can count on the distressed smartphone company. The letter was released Monday on Twitter and will be published in 30 publications in 9 countries Tuesday. It acknowledges "these are no doubt challenging times for us and we don't underestimate the situation" but says "you can continue to count on BlackBerry." The missive notes that BlackBerry has substantial cash and is debt free but makes no mention of the fact that the company is for sale and could be broken up and sold in pieces. BlackBerry announced last month that Fairfax Financial Holdings, which owns 10 percent of the company, signed a letter of intent that "contemplates" buying BlackBerry for $9 a share, or $4.7 billion. Fairfax, BlackBerry's largest shareholder, is trying to attract other investors. The stock is trading well below Fairfax's tentative offer on fears that the deal won't go through or that the final price will be lower. Shares of the company closed up 7 cents to $8.14 Monday. The BlackBerry, introduced in 1999, was once the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and other consumers. But then came a new generation of competing touchscreen smartphones, starting with Apple's iPhone in 2007. The BlackBerry suddenly looked ancient. The company's sales and market share shrank and it lost billions in market value. This year's much-delayed launch of BlackBerry 10 system and fancier devices that use the software was supposed to rejuvenate the brand and lure customers. It did not work. Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry recently announced 4,500 layoffs, or 40 percent of its global workforce, and reported a quarterly loss of nearly $1 billion. The letter says BlackBerry continues "to offer the best mobile typing experience -- no ifs, ands or buts about it." It also acknowledges "there is a lot of competition out there and we know that BlackBerry is not for everyone."
Blackberry sues Ryan Seacrest's Typo Products over iPhone keyboard case
Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry said Friday it was suing a company founded by TV’s Ryan Seacrest over a slip-on keyboard accessory for the iPhone that offers BlackBerry-like functionality to the Apple gadget. Typo Products LLC, founded by entrepreneur Laurence Hallier and media personality Seacrest, said that their first accessory, the Typo Keyboard, would be available for pre-order this month. Blackberry said that won’t fly. “This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard, and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design,” said Steve Zipperstein, BlackBerry's general counsel and chief legal officer. “From the beginning, BlackBerry has always focused on offering an exceptional typing experience that combines a great design with ergonomic excellence. We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation.” The device has been widely described as a way to turn an iPhone into a BlackBerry. A late December review of the Typo Keyboard case on CNET, for example, was titled “Hands -on with case that turns your iPhone into a BlackBerry.” The product is set to debut at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
BlackBerry eyes industry partnerships, and not Kim Kardashian, to help spur growth
BlackBerry CEO John Chen has met with Xiaomi and Lenovo in China, where it’s speculated he may have discussed future partnerships to help spur growth. News of the meetings comes shortly after Chen dismissed the idea of signing up celebrities to endorse its products, following Kim Kardashian’s pledge of allegiance to the firm’s devices. “I’m not into bringing celebrities on board,” Chen is quoted as saying, telling Bloomberg that the money required to do so can be better spent elsewhere. It’s a different strategy to Chen’s predecessor Thorsten Heins, who wheeled out Alicia Keys as Creative Director during the unveiling of BlackBerry 10 back in January 2013. Instead, Chen may be looking at a different type of partnership to help grow the business, specifically in China; a market he says the company has never really focused on. In addition to Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun, Lenovo’s CEO Yang Yuanqing, Chen also met with Cher Wang, chairwoman of HTC. The exact content of the meetings remains secret, but Bloomberg quotes the BlackBerry CEO as saying “I’m here to look at what opportunities there may be.” While the market is nearing maturity, analysts still expect another 10 percent growth in 2015, with annual sales potentially nearing 500 million units. Noting the high level of competitiveness in China’s smartphone industry, Chen said to make an impact, “a more efficient way is to have a good partner.” However, we shouldn’t expect any announcements in the very near future. “This market is not an easy one to get deals done quickly,” he said, adding, “It’s going to take a while, but I’m interested.” Lenovo seems like a prime candidate to partner with BlackBerry. It has been linked with acquiring the struggling firm more than once, but it’s widely accepted that such a deal would end up being blocked by Canadian authorities. If Lenovo’s serious about collaborating with BlackBerry, then a strategic partnership could avoid any regulatory issues. The Chinese company has recently completed the acquisition of Motorola.